Trademarks for Taylor Swift

As of February 11, 2015, the pop star, Taylor Swift, has submitted several “Intent to Use” trade applications for lyrics from her chart-topping album, 1989. The trademark application phrases included “Party Like It Is 1989”, “This Sick Beat”, “Cause we never go out of style” and other lyrics from her chart-topping album. According to the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO), an “intent to use” trademark application is a halfway point between the intent to use the mark in commerce and the actual use of the mark in commerce. In particular, the USPTO website defines “intent to use” as “more than an idea and less than market ready.” According to Justia, a legal database, the pending trademark “Party Like It Is 1989” extends to printing of this lyrics on musical instruments, stationary, lanyards to beverage ware. Once Swift owns the marks, she will financially benefit from both her hit songs and the use of the lyrics of those songs on products in commerce. There has not been any additional information on how Swift will use these trademarks, however a trademark on the lyrics would bar anyone else from using these phrases without legal consequences. However, the above mentioned trademarks aren’t the first for Taylor Swift, a continued search on Justia revealed that Swift has trademarked her name, as well as her initials “T.S.” in a cursive lettering.

By: Jasmin Brooks, Editor in Chief

photo credit: Self_Same_Self via flickr cc

Source: http://blogs.wsj.com/law/2015/01/29/taylor-swift-trademarks-this-sick-beat-and-other-catchphrases/; https://trademarks.justia.com/owners/swift-taylor-1396036/page3; http://www.uspto.gov/sites/default/files/trademarks/basics/BasicFacts.pdf